Centering + Supporting Asian/American Pacific Islanders in Schools.

At PowerTools, we are enraged and heartbroken at the increase in violence, terror, and harassment against the Asian/American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. We recognize the terrorism and trauma embedded in each attack. We also know that these latest incidents are a part of a larger context of white supremacy that has plagued and shaped the United States since its inception. As we mark a year since the murder of Breonna Taylor with no justice, and a year since the inception of regularly-used xenophobic language around coronavirus, not only do we continue to educate ourselves to fight against white supremacy and the terror invoked against the BIPOC and AAPI communities, but we continue to support educators and school staff to do the same. Our goal is to help create more inclusive, anti-racist schools and classroom communities. We continue to work towards un-whitewashing the narrative. Please join us.

Here are some steps we can all take right now as educators and those who works with youth:

1) Educate yourself and your students about the rich, complex history of Asians in America. Highlight how AAPI helped build this country, how they’ve been oppressed by this country, and the amazing stories of resilience that abound. For a wide lens, we like PBS’ Asian Americans documentary series.

2) Build your awareness of biases against AAPI communities. Educate yourself on the current, horrifying wave of attacks against AAPI with an article like this. At the same time, recognize that America has a long history of perpetuating the racist thinking that propels these attacks. Try National Geographic’s America’s long history of scapegoating its Asian citizens or Business Insider’s The US has a long history of discriminating against Asians and once banned Chinese people from becoming citizens for 60 years.

3) Include Asian voices and images in your curricula. Are you teaching about Yuri Kochiyama when you teach about the Civil Rights era, for example? Are you including the stories of these amazing Asian American women forging space exploration or AAPI women like them when you honor Women’s History Month? Are your students reading books by Asian authors like these or these? Do you include images of Asian folks in your slide shows, your posters, your clip art?

4) Recognize the trauma that goes along with witnessing both the recent rash of attacks on AAPI community and the lack of action being taken. Check in on your Asian American Pacific Islander students and colleagues. And take care of yourself. These Mental Health Resources Were Created For the AAPI Community, and They're Available If You Need Help was recently posted by Popsugar.

5) Representation is key. Are students seeing staff and leaders that are from the AAPI communities?

6) Boost inclusion by ensuring that documents are translated before distribution and that all staff are using the phone translators available for interactions with family members and caregivers.

6) Be an “Upstander”. We really like, and our team is watching a Bystander Intervention Training called, Stop AAPI Hate: Towards Prevention and Solidarity . Join us.

Please share any additional resources, thoughts, and strategies. We’re in this together, we learn from each other, and it’s up to us to support and protect each other.

Free Yoga. For You, School Staff!

At PowerTools, we can’t believe it’s already March. Again. It has been a year! Remember last March when everybody was publicly loving on teachers and school staff? Well, we never stopped. We honor the hard and vital work you all do (and have been doing!) and at the same time, we recognize the toll it takes. Especially now. That’s why we have decided to start monthly free yoga classes for all school-based staff (teachers, admin, paras, office staff, school nurses, school safety, school aids… all of you!). Because you deserve it. Please spread the word and join us via zoom for an hour long, all levels yoga class, every second Sunday of the month at 10am. Register on our Shop/Sign Up page, we’ll send you the link. It’s that easy.

Some notes:

  • If you have a yoga mat, great! If you don’t, that’s ok too. You can use a beach towel or just the floor. We’ll work it out.

  • “All levels” means we will offer a lot of modifications for the poses we do. This helps you find the pose that’s right for your needs and your body on that day.

  • You’ll never have to turn your camera on if you don’t want to.

  • Unsure if this is for you? Message us and we can figure it out together.

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Student-Centered Stress Management Strategy!

Students are stressed out! In our workshops with youth we hear about intense stress, issues with anxiety, challenges with mental health, and a desire to manage their stress better. This simple strategy for teachers can make your classroom more relaxing, boost engagement, and center student interests.

1) Elicit from students to what extent music helps them reduce/manage their stress. How important is music to them? How do they listen to music (phone, laptop, record player?) When do they listen to music?

2) Share some facts about the power of music to reduce stress. This article lists study findings that show that music can have psychological, emotional and physical benefits. https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-power-of-music-to-reduce-stress#1

2) Ask students to share some artists and names of songs they listen to in order to relax. They can write it in a Zoom chat, on a shared document, or in a private message to you.

3) Create a playlist or visual image of the students’ input (see image below)

4) Try the following activities in your class:

THIS OR THAT: Create a break during class time (breaks are shown to improve information retention). During that time, play two playlist songs and ask students to vote on which song they find most relaxing (Zoom Poll, Google form, chat response, holding 1 or 2 fingers up)

SONG OF THE DAY: Students sign up to present a (vetted/ school appropriate) song and share why that particular song relaxes them. This is a great way to start or end the week.

GUESS WHO: Play a song from the playlist and students guess who selected this song/artist. (Make sure to reiterate norms- people have different tastes- don’t “yuck their yum”)

LISTENING LOUNGE: Play a student playlist song/artist as students enter the virtual classroom.

5) Share this public Spotify playlist called Relaxing Songs. Explain that a group of neuroscientists did an experiment where they had people listen to these songs and found that their stress was reduced up to 65%! Here’s an Inc.com article on the topic.

6) Talk to your school leaders about playing music over the PA system to mark passing time between classes (when you are back in person). At Dewey High School and Kingsborough Early College Secondary School in Brooklyn NY, music (selected by youth and adults) plays between classes and makes for a more fun, vibrant and relaxed environment.

A playlist compiled into a word cloud, representing the most relaxing songs/artists selected by 130 HS students at Business Technology Early College High School in Queens, NY. Shout out to @Btechschool @JohnDeweyBK @ECICuny and Kingsborough Early S…

A playlist compiled into a word cloud, representing the most relaxing songs/artists selected by 130 HS students at Business Technology Early College High School in Queens, NY. Shout out to @Btechschool @JohnDeweyBK @ECICuny and Kingsborough Early Secondary School

On Inauguration Day: A letter to our Partners and Friends

Dear PowerTools partners and friends, 

Today, as we look toward a new year and a new administration, the PowerTools team finds ourselves grappling with where we are as a nation. We stand hours away from the inauguration of the nation’s first Black, South Asian, female Vice President, Kamala Harris. Harris and Biden’s win was hard fought, particularly by the tireless efforts of Black women such as Stacey Abrams, who have dedicated their careers and livelihood to pushing for equity despite resistance, threats and often lack of recognition. This should be a time of celebration of their courage, of the start of a new day (and year! whew), and the departure of a leader whose lies, laws, and rhetoric have defunded and demeaned our students and their families.

But this win does not stand alone. White supremacy stands aside it, with threats to every state capitol and continued revelations about the domestic terrorism that took place two weeks ago at the nation’s capitol. In these moments, our attention is on our students and the need to support them as they live through and process these unnerving events. We’re committed to standing next to our partner-educators and all adults to reshape the US culture to one of possibility, equity, participation, safety and true representation. Our youth deserve it. As we sort through our own emotions, we’ve landed on the following thoughts and have added resources so that this letter may serve as a tool for you and your schools.

We acknowledge that white supremacy has sunk its claws into the United States from the beginning. Mirrored in the outfits and actions of the thousands who stormed the capitol and those who continue to threaten our democracy, it will not fade away with a transition of power or impeachment of the president. While we may see these white supremacists as “other”, our entire culture has been influenced by systemic racism and it impacts and influences our school systems as well. We’re excited about our work with you, exploring ways to move toward anti-racist education. Here is some food for thought:

While shifting to anti-racist systems will benefit everyone, real change is possible only when white people take a close look at their/our personal relationship with white privilege and racism. Raising self-awareness, shifting focus from intentions to impact, minimizing implicit bias and blindspots, and making a conscious effort to act as co-conspirators is what it’s about. The burden of fighting racism has historically (and currently) unjustly landed on the shoulders of BIPOC communities. Here are some starting points for our white colleagues and partners:

 BIPOC communities have been literally and figuratively hit over the head for centuries with the weapons of the nation’s racist terrorism and this collective trauma is carried through the generations, residing in many of our students. To that end, it’s essential that we work from a healing-centered/trauma informed perspective. We applaud our partner schools that have been trained in trauma informed practice, that focus on SEL, equity and youth voice as a way to help. Some food for thought:

 While we take on the “hard” topics of racism, oppression and white privilege/supremacy with our students, let’s also center the experiences and history of BIPOC community members so they may see themselves reflected and respected beyond stories of struggle. Let’s together build our knowledge and libraries of windows and mirrors to learn best how to support our students (and ourselves), and provide youth with a wide breadth of perspectives, successes, resilience, contribution, and context.

Conspiracy theories, fake news, unsubstantiated “facts” and bold lies have permeated our media and people have responded accordingly. Now’s the time to focus on media literacy skills while analyzing how our nation’s history (from textbooks to school lessons) have often been whitewashed - minimizing the voices, perspectives, and experiences of oppressed peoples.

 We value and honor those who work with youth. You have had the responsibility to be on the front lines to face the pain, rage, questions, etc. of young people while they grapple with their own trauma from recent weeks, the past year and beyond. Thank you for your hard work. We are here to support and walk with you. 

 Warmly, 

Nina and the PowerTools team




Latinx Activist Activities all year round

It’s our pleasure to offer this free resource for you, your students, and/or families to highlight and learn about Latinx activists at all times of the year. This four-step recommended experience starts with you and/or youth selecting the activists you’d like to learn more about (see the PowerTools’ Latinx Activists Chart). For each person, we’ve collected quotes, articles and videos for you to dive into. We also have outlined four activities for students to engage in either synchronously or synchronously ( be it remote or in person). Enjoy and please share your feedback!